


I Like You a Latte

by notevennoticed



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 17:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19445857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notevennoticed/pseuds/notevennoticed
Summary: Christen stops by her local coffee shop every morning for her cup of latte even though they don't have almond milk and she has to substitute it with the subpar lacto free alternative. She befriends the tan barista with the bright smile and occasionally gets free pastries. What results from these sweet transaction?





	I Like You a Latte

**Author's Note:**

> This coffee shop AU brought to you guys by this instapost that was taken from tumblr that gave me inspiration:  
> “Omg I just went to go get a latte from my regular coffee shop and I always have the same guy serving me and I must bug him so much as I would always ask for almond milk (I’m lactose intolerant) but they would just have lacto free so I stuck with that and today as I drank my latte I could tell the difference in the milk and asked if they started serving almond milk and the guy just shyly said “well you always ask if we have it so I got it specially for you”

Christen sighed before opening the door to the local coffee shop. She recently moved to Portland for work and was dying to find a coffee shop that was a good distance between her apartment and work. She had settled on this one as it offered a multiple selection of drinks, yummy pastries and other baked goods, and was fairly priced. Overall, it was a nice establishment except it lacked one thing- almond milk.

When Christen first found out she was a tad disappointed as she was lactose intolerant and didn’t really liked how the lacto free substitute tasted, but the friendly barista had offered her a free pastry because she could tell how saddened Christen was. Despite having the pastry as a delicious consolation, her latte was still eh at best.

Despite the shop not having almond milk, it didn’t stop Christen from asking every time she stopped by for her morning latte to see if they had almond milk. But each time she was meant with a sad smile and a quick shake of the head by the barista.

“Good morning Christen,” the tanned barista happily greeted once she had stepped through the door. “Your regular latte?”

Christen nodded, “Good morning Tobin. And yes, please. And by chance do you guys happen to have-“

“Sorry, but we still don’t have almond milk,” the barista sighed. “But we could offer you the alternative lacto free option that we have.”

“I guess that’ll have to do, again.”

Tobin gave her a small a pout, “But, can I interest you in a pastry? They were made this morning by yours truly. The blueberry muffins seem to be a hit today.”

Christen hesitated. She did want a pastry but their scrumptious flavor was always ruined when she washed it down with her latte.

“It’s on the house!” Tobin smiled. “To make up for our lack of almond milk.”

“In that case then, yes please.” Christen laughed. She wasn’t one to turn down free food. She handed Tobin her card and took a second to study the friendly barista. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Won’t you get in trouble for giving me a free pastry every single morning?”

“Nah, I’m co-owner of this place so it’s all good.” Tobin replied easily, handing back Christen her card. “Your lacto-free latte and the most delicious blueberry muffin will be out shortly.”

Christen giggled, “I guess I’ll be the judge of that.”

Tobin just smirked and went to make her drink. It only took a minute or so until Christen saw her drink slide onto the pick-up countertop with a small brown bag that had her muffin in. Christen thanked Tobin as she grabbed her goods and made her way out of the door. Despite not getting her latte with almond milk, she felt excited to start her day at work and had a big smile on her face.

***

“What’s got you all smiley this morning, Press?” her small freckled co-worker teased. “Did you get some last night?”

Christen snorted. “Kelley, you know I don’t go out.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Because you’ve came up with an excuse every time I’ve asked you,” Kelley groaned. “C’mon Chris, let loose, live a little. You need to meet new people and make friends, ‘cause even though I know I am the bestest friend you could ever ask for, I get busy sometimes and can’t hang out with your lonely butt all day.”

Christen just chuckled and rolled her eyes good-naturally as she opened up her pastry bag. She knew plenty of people in Portland. Sure, it wouldn’t hurt to make more friends that weren’t from work, but she’ll live. The muffin was still warm and she was eager to try it to see if it lived up to the “most delicious blueberry muffin” Tobin had hyped it up to be earlier. She took a small bite at first just in case it was actually a bad muffin that Tobin had given her to get her back for all her insistent asking of almond milk, but true to her word, the muffin was perfect. She polished the rest of the muffin in record time and went to wash it down with her drink, grimacing when she remembered that the latte was the one thing that she wished could be perfected. But, with a warm belly and a satisfied sweet tooth, she opened up her laptop and started her day.

***

“Good morning, welcome to Thorns’ Coffee,” Tobin greeted happily as Christen strolled in ready for her morning pick-me-up. “Are you going to switch things up today, or should I just get your regular?”

Christen smiled, “Well, if you happen to have almond milk, I wouldn’t mind that switch up.”

“Well, um- would you like a pastry? On the house, of course” Tobin stuttered. “The chocolate croissants are the star of the day.”

Christen’s smile faltered, because the offer of a pastry usually meant that it was still just the lacto-free substitute, but her smile returned just as quickly. “Sure, I guess I can’t refuse that,” she replied handing over her card.

“They’ll be coming out shortly,” Tobin winked, handing the card back.

Tobin moved to the side and quickly prepared both items before she met Christen over at the pick-up counter. “Here you go. The best latte and the most delicious chocolate croissant ever.”

“Thank you, Tobin.” Christen replied, sliding the coffee sleeve onto the cup. She took a quick sip of the hot beverage as she needed some caffeine and made a face.

“Oops, should’ve warned you that it was still piping hot,” Tobin said, noting the look on Christen’s face.

Christen quickly shook her head. “No, it wasn’t that. There’s something different about this latte.”

Tobin just smiled, waiting for Christen to finish her thought.

Christen took another sip and another until she realized what was different. “Oh my gosh, did you use almond milk for this?”

“Well, you always ask if we have it so I got it specially for you,” Tobin replied shyly, her warm brown eyes twinkling. “I hope you like it.”

“Are you kidding me, this is amazing!” Christen exclaimed, taking another sip. “Wow, you were right. This is the best latte.”

Tobin just shrugged nonchalantly and offered her a wink before walking back to the register. “Have a good day, Christen!” 

“I will, thanks to this!” she said, holding up her latte with almond milk and warm chocolate croissant while opening the door. “Thank you, Tobin! Have a good day!”

***

The thought that Tobin had gotten almond milk just for her kept the smile on her face as she made her way to her desk. It didn’t take long to hear the wheels of the neighboring chair to squeak next to her.

“What’s up, Pressy? Did you finally get some last night, because you’re like glowing,” Kelley said, studying her. “Your smile is like making me smile even though it’s too early to be here.”

Christen just chuckled, “I finally got my latte with almond milk.”

“That’s it?” Kelley questioned. “You’re beaming like the sun because your latte is with almond milk? Isn’t that supposed to be like a normal thing?”

“Well, the coffee shop that I go to usually doesn’t have almond milk, but the nice barista managed to get some today.”

“Oh, interesting.”

Christen just hummed in reply as she took another sip.

“Hey what’s that on your cup?” Kelley asked pointing towards the coffee sleeve.

“It’s the coffee sleeve, Kel. So I don’t burn my hands while holding the hot drink?” Christen replied, confused because wasn’t it common knowledge that coffee sleeves were used for that purpose?

Kelley rolled her eyes, “No, not that. I know what a coffee sleeve is Chris. I meant that.” She pointed again, this time indicating the black line that was sticking out in contrast to the plain white coffee cup.

Curious, Christen slid the coffee sleeve down and was surprised to see that Tobin had left a message on her cup.

Written in all caps was “I LIKE YOU A LATTE – T” with her phone number scribbled right below.

“Who’s T?” Kelley questioned immediately, scanning Christen’s face to see her reaction.

Christen smiled even harder. “She’s the nice barista that got the almond milk to make my latte. It was really sweet of her.”

“Well, are you going to text her?”

“Yes,” Christen answered while pulling out her laptop. “I’ll do it after work.”

Kelley scoffed. “Why after? Do it now, please. I want to see what else she says. And besides, I feel like you’ll forget and not text her which would be a shame because if this latte is from Thorn’s Coffee then I know exactly who T is and I can say that she is a 10 out of 10. Please Pressy? You need to get back in the game and she set you up perfectly.”

Christen sighed. “Fine, fine, if it’ll get you off my back. I’ll text her, but only if you help me figure out what to say because saying ‘Hey Tobin, thanks for the coffee’ is too basic and I’ve already thanked her like twice for it before I left the shop.”

Kelley just stared at her. “Listen, Chris, that is not too basic and would be a perfect way to start a conversation with her. Add a smiley face with it too. It shows that you are basically forever grateful that she went out of her way to get almond milk so your latte could taste amazing to you.”

“Ugh, I guess you’re right,” Christen said, typing in Tobin’s number and the reply that Kelley and her agreed on and hitting send. “Hopefully she doesn’t think I’m lame.”

“She definitely doesn’t Pressy. You’re cute and single and she got almond milk just for you and she wrote this on your cup and gave you her number. I bet you that croissant that she’s going to ask you to dinner.”

“You think so KO?”

Kelley just nodded eyeing the treat that was still in its bag. Christen’s phone buzzed indicating that she had received a message.

_[Tobin] I’m glad you enjoyed it :)_

“Okay, now what do I say?” green eyes widening. Panicking, Christen tossed her phone at Kelley.

Kelley just rolled her eyes at Christen’s dramatic reaction and typed out a short response.

_[Christen] It was perfect! It really made my day._

It only took a few seconds before there was a response.

_[Tobin} Well, if you weren’t doing anything later, I was wondering if I could make your night? Would you want to get dinner with me?_

“Hand over the croissant. I just won our bet. She asked you to dine with her,” the freckled girl exclaimed before digging into her prize. “I hope she keeps giving you free pastries. This stuff is addicting.”

“Wait, dine with her? Like as in dinner? Like as in a date?” Christen replied. Her thoughts going a million miles per minute. What should she wear? Where would they be going? Was it a date?

Kelley shrugged, shoving the rest of the croissant in her mouth. “Iz pwobs a datz. I’lk texs her and asks,” grabbing Christen’s phone.

_[Christen] Sure thing! Where at?_

_[Tobin] It’s a surprise :) I can pick you up at 5:30?_

_[Christen] Sounds good._

“What’s your address Chris?” Kelley asked, typing in the apartment and street once Christen rambled it out. “She’s picking you up at 5:30 okay?”

“Okay. But what do I wear? What should I expect?” Christen said, green eyes widening as she began to freak out about how she could possibly make a fool out of herself in front of Tobin.

Kelley gently smacked her head. “Relax, Press. You’ll look good in anything and just go with the flow, okay? Tobin already likes you a lot as you can tell by her message on your cup and the fact that she got you almond milk and she’d be crazy not to like you even more after-”

Christen’s phone buzzed again, cutting of Kelley’s impromptu pep talk.

_[Tobin] Thanks, I’ll be there right at 5:30. It’s a date :D_

Christen let out a deep breath. She could do this. All she needed to do was get through this day at work and scramble home to get ready for her date. Today had been a good day so far and she was looking forward to having a good night.

**Author's Note:**

> hi peeps :) thanks for reading ... there may or may not be a part two so keep on the lookout! (it depends on if y'all like it or nah)  
> Please let me know what you think of this fic so far!


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